Thursday, September 25, 2008

December 2009 Architectural Digest's New Theme Issue: People and Places

December 2009 Architectural Digest's New Theme Issue: People and Places

Architectural Digest's December issue features a new theme: interesting people and their interesting places. The selection of individuals is as diverse as their homes--four fashion designers, a former NBA player, three actors and a pop star!

New York, NY (PRWEB) November 11, 2009

Architectural Digest's (http://www. architecturaldigest. com/) December issue features a new theme: interesting people and their interesting places. The selection of individuals is as diverse as their homes--four fashion designers, a former NBA player, three actors and a pop star!

Donna Karan's vacation home in the Turks and Caicos was a promise to her late husband who dreamed of a retreat where their family could enjoy total privacy, but be together. After starting the Urban Zen Foundation in his memory, Karan began working on the family compound. The East-West fusion escape was modeled after a Balinese health resort. "I can't live without my steam bath!" says Karan of her island home, which is filled with divans, canopy beds and beanbag chairs. To her delight, "There is nothing in the place that you can't fall asleep on." With rattan ceilings, dark woods and a seamless transition from indoors to out, here Karan is living with nature and admits, "My ideal dwelling is a tree house."

Sir Elton John and his partner, filmmaker David Furnish, asked Martyn Lawrence Bullard to create a 1970s vibe for their Los Angeles home. "Our goal for this apartment was neither entertaining nor having houseguests--it's about function," says Furnish. "Beyond that, Elton just said, 'Color. I want color.'" Bullard recalls, "Immediately I thought: Boogie Nights." The result? Shimmering emerald walls, platinum-leaf ceilings, baseboards inset with polished steel and baths with glass-bead wallpaper. According to Furnish, "After the initial walk-through, Elton never sees a project agin utnil it's finished, which puts pressure on everybody. The first time we visited this apartment, he didn't like much of anything. So when he finally saw the finished product, he couldn't believe it was the same apartment. His jaw hit the floor."

Kelsey Grammer, currently starring in ABC's Hank, spruces up the former home of his hero, Henry Mancini; Ferruccio Ferragamo rebuilds the vineyard, game preserve and village of his Tuscan estate; Leonard Lauder creates a private research library in Manhattan for his vintage poster collection; and Magic Johnson, who recently co-authored the book When the Game Was Ours with Larry Bird, gets an assist from the family-run Kreiss company with furniture that will accommodate his oversized frame.

Visit architecturaldigest. com (http://www. architecturaldigest. com/) for expanded coverage of the issue including: an update on Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation in New Orleans; and a slideshow with the previously published homes of Sir Elton John.